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2023-03-31-accounts

COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE NUMBER: 04680035 REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1104765

Annual Report

2022|23

Report of the Trustees and

Unaudited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023

The National Appropriate Adult Network Ltd

Accounts independently examined by Calcutt Matthews - Chartered Accountants

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THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Reference & Administrative Details

Company number 04680035 (England and Wales) Charity number 1104765 Registered ofce 19 North Street, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8LF President The Lord Patel of Bradford OBE Patron Professor Gisli Gudjonsson CBE Chair Penelope Gibbs Treasurer Kevin Wheeler FCA Other trustees Andrew Ward (retired 30.06.22) Charles Rose Donna Buffong Laura Hornby (from 13.07.22) Lynn Frusher Matthew Haynes Michelle Dixon Sharrel Collman Stephen Gray (until 19.10.22) Suzanne Nash Chief Executve Christopher Bath & Company Secretary Independent examiner Rosanna Turner ACA DChA Calcutt Matthews Chartered Accountants 19 North Street, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8LF

Bankers Unity Trust Bank, 9 Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B1 2HB

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the Year Ended 31 March 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).

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Structure, Governance & Management

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

Trustee recruitment and appointment

The charity is governed by a Board consisting of up to thirteen trustees. Trustees are primarily elected at the AGM by, and from within, the full membership of the organisation. However, a maximum of six trustees can be co-opted by the Board to ensure a diverse mix of skills, experience and perspectives.

All trustee appointments are time-limited under the governing document. Individuals are appointed for a period of three years, after which they must retire but can stand for a further threeyear period.

The Board conducted open recruitment for a new trustee with policing experience. Laura Hornby was appointed on 13[th] July 2022.

Organisatonal structure

NAAN is a registered charity governed by a trustee board. Major decisions on strategy, policy and expenditure are made by the board. Day to day decision-making is delegated to the chief executive.

Remuneraton policy

Remuneration policy is guided by the need to attract and retain high performing people, ensure financial sustainability, and fairness in the context of the market. The chief executive’s salary is reviewed by the board’s finance committee and changes must be approved by the board. Staff salaries are determined by the chief executive in line with annual budgets approved by the board.

Risk management

The Board maintains a detailed risk register, which was reviewed during the year. The major risks to which the charity is exposed have been

considered, with particular focus on events that would seriously impede its operations. Steps to mitigate risks are summarised below.

NAAN’s treasurer is a qualified chartered accountant. Financial records are maintained on a secured cloud-based system. Monthly, accounts are reconciled, and cash flow and budget are monitored. Management accounts are reviewed by the Board quarterly. Payroll is calculated by an external company. NAAN has dual authorisation for all bank payments. NAAN is annually subjected to an Independent Examination by external accountants.

To preserve NAAN's reputation, the charity exercises great care to ensure that communications are factually accurate and in line with organisational policy.

Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined by the Board in writing and reviewed annually. Rules for the appointment and retirement of Board members are clearly defined in the governance document. New trustees sign a formal agreement covering conflicts of interest.

NAAN complies with data protection law and is registered with the ICO. Data is held within the secure cloud-based systems which are compliant with data protection legislation. Where required, physical copies of information are stored in secure storage units.

Appropriate insurance policies are in place and are reviewed annually.

The primary risks are: loss of income through AA scheme consolidation reducing membership numbers; a reliance on a key Home Office grant agreed annually; and the loss of staff members.

These risks are mitigated via our reserves policy, annual reviews of membership fees, seeking a multi-year agreement with the Home Office, and a strategic focus on income diversification (grant funding from other sources and opportunities for earned income where they are in line with our charitable objectives).

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Objectives and activities

The charity has referred to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit when reviewing aims and objectives in planning future activities. In particular, the board considers how planned activities contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

Charitable Objects

The charity aims to benefit the public by achieving the objectives as set out in its constitution. These are:

a) To promote the care of children and young people under 18 years and the care of people of any age who are mentally vulnerable as a result of mental ill health, learning disability, neurodevelopmental disorder or any other reason and who are detained or otherwise questioned under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 by the provision of support and guidance for, and the promotion of best practice amongst appropriate adult services.

b) To promote or assist in the promotion of, the sound administration of the criminal justice system by the provision of support and guidance for, and the promotion of best practice amongst appropriate adult services.

Vision

Every child and vulnerable person detained or questioned as a suspect is treated fairly with respect for their physical and mental welfare, can exercise their legal rights and entitlements, and can participate effectively.

Mission

To maximise the effectiveness of appropriate adults as a safeguard for children and vulnerable people by strengthening local provision, informing the public, and contributing to a fairer system.

Strategic Objectves

  1. Strengthened local provision

  2. Informed children, vulnerable people, and supporters

  3. A fairer system

  4. Increased impact

Actvites

NAAN seeks to achieve its objectives through:

Professional Development

National Standards

Information, Advice & Guidance

Informing Policy

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Membership on 31st March 2023

England (excluding London) Anglia Care Trust Bedford Borough Council Bedfordshire and Luton EDT Bedfordshire YOS Berkshire Emergency Duty Service Birmingham YOS Blackpool AA Service Bristol YOT Cambridgeshire YOS Cardiff YOS Caring for Communities and People Catch 22 (Merseyside) Central Bedfordshire CGL South Yorkshire AA Scheme Child Action Northwest Cloverleaf Advocacy Cornwall Council Coventry EDT Coventry YOS Diverse Social Care Provision Doncaster Council - new Dudley YOS East Sussex YJS Gateshead Council - new Gateshead YOT Grimsby YOS Hampshire Constabulary Hertfordshire YJS Leicestershire Police Leicestershire YOS Luton Borough Council Luton Youth Partnership Service Medway Youth Services Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind Milton Keynes YOT Nini Social Care North Lincolnshire YOS North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire YJS Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust Northumbria Local Appropriate Adult Scheme OPPC for Merseyside OPFC for Staffordshire Onside Advocacy Open Road Appropriate Adult Service Oxfordshire YJS PoHWER Advocacy Potton Kare Services Sandwell Children's Trust Sefton YOT Serenity Welfare Shropshire Council - new Solihull YOS Somerset YJS St. Helens YOS

Stockton YOS Stoke-on-Trent YOS Surrey Appropriate Adult Volunteer Scheme Swan Advocacy Network - new Swindon YOT The Brandon Trust AA Service Warwickshire YJS West Berkshire Council, Mental Health Team West Berkshire YOT West London NHS Trust, Forensic Social Work West Sussex YOS AA Service Westminster AA Volunteer Service Wiltshire IYS Volunteer AA Scheme Wokingham Borough Council YMCA Trinity Group York YOT Young Lives Foundation YSS

London

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough of Havering Social Care Academy London Borough of Wandsworth YOT Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead YOT Shah and Co Estates Ltd Southwark Appropriate Adult Service

Wales

Adferiad Recovery Blaenau Gwent & Caerphilly YOS Carmarthenshire YSS Ceredigion YJS Digartref Cyf Gwynedd & Mon YJS Neath Port Talbot YOT Newport YOS Vale of Glamorgan YOS

Northern Ireland MindWise

UK wide

Appropriate Adults UK Headway, the brain injury association MacIntyre - new Natis, the National Investigation Service - new The Appropriate Adult Service Ltd The Children's Society

Other territories Childline Gibraltar Isle of Man Government

Local youth justice teams are referred to as Youth Offending Service (YOS), Youth Offending Team (YOT) and Youth Justice Service (YJS) or integrated into wider an Integrated Youth Service (IYS) or Youth Support Service (YSS)

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Achievement and performance

Our strategic objectves

1. Strengthened local provision

We will strengthen local community organised schemes to deliver more effective, efficient, consistent and sustainable appropriate adult support for children and vulnerable people.

3. A fairer system

We will work with others to make the wider system of rights and safeguards work in a fairer way for children and vulnerable people.

2. Informed children, vulnerable people and supporters

We will empower children, vulnerable people, parents, family, friends and professionals to make well informed choices and increase the effectiveness of familial and other non-scheme appropriate adults.

4. Increased impact

We will make the charity more effective, efficient and sustainable.

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Strategic objective 1: Strengthened local provision

We will strengthen local community organised schemes to deliver more effective, efficient, consistent and sustainable appropriate adult support for children and vulnerable people.

Membership network

During 2022-23, the Board was pleased to accept membership applications from 6 organisations.

On 31[st] March 2023, NAAN had 99 members.

“NAAN are amazing, I couldn’t do my job without them.”

Events

In June, we hosted our first face to face event since before the covid-19 pandemic. Over 40 people attended our Professional Development Day in Birmingham, to hear presentations about criminal justice reform, co-location of AAs in police custody, and the role of custody monitoring by volunteers.

2022-23 member survey respondent

Member support

During the year we…

“Being a part of the network provides me comfort that there is a space or person/people to turn to reflect, ask questions, and upskill provisions.”

2022-23 member survey respondent

“A really good networking day. [It was] nice to hear how other AA schemes operate.”

“I really enjoyed the open space which allowed us the opportunity to share ideas and listen to other people’s experiences, a great way to end the session.”

We also hosted online events for our members.

Following our AGM we hosted a discussion with Dr Vicky Kemp about her research in relation to children’s experiences of custody, what made a positive difference, where there are areas for improvement, and where appropriate adults do (and could) make a positive difference.

“I loved the format of interviewing the speaker, it kept my attention and I found it very engaging and interesting.”

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In December, we hosted an opportunity for NAAN members to meet with His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service (HMICFRS)[1] Inspection Lead, Norma Collicott and colleagues from both custody and child protections inspection teams.

This lead to further collaboration between NAAN and HMICFRS:

E-learning

After much research, we appointed Nifty Fox Creative as our creative partner in the development of online learning for appropriate adults. This project formally kicks off in April 2023 with a curriculum sprint – bringing together a range of stakeholders including appropriate adult practitioners, local scheme leaders, and academics.

Our sincere thanks to the trustees of the Allen Lane Foundation, without whose support this work would not have been possible.

Training and development

This year we delivered AA training to 421 people, in 44 training days, across 30 organisations.

We also welcomed Chloe MacDonald to the team as NAAN’s Associate Trainer.

100% of learners said their knowledge or skills had improved following the training, with 90% saying they had improved “a great deal” or “a lot”.

“I have been doing AA for a few years, but this training was really good, focused, not at all boring, and I learned some things I had been completely unaware of from previous training (not by NAAN)!”

“The trainer was excellent and ran a great two days, imparting a huge amount of information in an inspiring, interactive and learning centred way.”

1 HMICFRS conducts inspections of police custody and child protection which often feature appropriate adult schemes.

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Qualifcatons

This year was we onboarded four new training centres, and enrolled 31 learners on one of our accredited appropriate adult qualifications. One learner passed during the year, with many more portfolios on their way to being submitted.

We heard how the qualification is being used to support practice and increase volunteer retention at AA services.

Member case study:

“As students, our volunteers AAs are keen to learn and -to build their CVs. You can say you’ve volunteered somewhere but it doesn’t hold as much weight as having an accredited qualification to show for it.

NAAN’s Level 2 Award in Working as an Appropriate Adult with Vulnerable Adults and Juveniles is something we keep talking about throughout the year, and once volunteers have been with us for a few months we give them the opportunity to enrol.

Every two to three months we bring our volunteer AAs together to talk through what they’ve been experiencing and to give them a few hours of working on their portfolios together. This reflection time has been invaluable in keeping volunteers engaged and feeling supported. It allows them to share any challenging experiences, talk about it with others, and put them in perspective alongside everything that’s worked well.

Volunteers are usually with us for a few years and sometimes for longer. Working towards the AA qualification helps to improve their practice, keeps them engaged, and gives them something concrete on their CV to show for it.”

Development and commissioning support

Over the year we had 519 views of our webpage for AA scheme developers and commissioners. In addition, we provided free development and commissioning support to 5 organisations across London, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Cleveland.

“I just wanted to reach out to offer a heartful THANK-YOU to yourself and NAAN for your consultation and support with our market opportunity. Your feedback was massively influential in enabling me to link in with my team to raise the contract offer which was available, and through your support with promoting the opportunity through your networks we had people coming to meet us in person at our market engagement event from as far afield as Cheshire.”

Chris Gutteridge, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland

YPO

We continued our partnership with YPO, purchasing body owned by local authorities, with whom we developed a “Dynamic Purchasing System” (DPS) for AA services. The DPS is designed to make it as efficient as possible for authorities to commission high quality AA provision.

During the year 7 contracts were awarded via the DPS (up from 5 last year).

Natonal volunteering portal

We provided online information for prospective volunteers and kept our online interactive national map updated, allowing potential volunteers to identify local schemes.

During the year, our:

Sarah Connelly, Scheme Manager for the Northumbria Local Appropriate Adult Scheme

We also provided information to 47 potential volunteers who contacted us.

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Objective 2: Informed children, vulnerable people and supporters

We will empower children, vulnerable people, parents, family, friends and professionals to make well informed choices and increase the effectiveness of familial and other non-scheme appropriate adults.

Informaton: children & vulnerable people

Recorded web page views were as follows:

Informaton: families & supporters

We continued to promote our information video for familial appropriate adults, which has been formally adopted for regular use by four police forces:

The video was viewed 2,021 times.

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Objective 3: A Fairer System

We will work with others to make the wider system of rights and safeguards work in a fairer way for children and vulnerable people.

Strip searches

In response to the Child Q case we researched and published Police searches of people: A review of PACE powers. The report highlights the complex powers, limited safeguards, ethnic disparities, and traumatic impact of police searches. It also highlighted the potential for positive change, suggesting a range of strategic and technical changes, including a new focus on safeguarding. We shared this with the Home Office, policing bodies, the Children’s Commissioner and the Independent Office Police Conduct (IOPC). Policing Insight published our artcle. We were invited to participate in an Associaton for Youth Justce panel on strip search harms. We provided guidance to the lead IOPC official investigating strip searches conducted by the Metropolitan Police Service. We met with the Safeguarding and Child Protection Association, held a focus group with school Designated Safeguarding Leads, and began to develop informaton for educatonal establishments on strip searches, broader children’s rights and the AA role. By the year end, the report had been downloaded 567 times.

“The police can search children in several different ways, for a number of reasons, with different rules applying to each of these types of searches, which have been comprehensively summarised by the House of Commons Library and the National Appropriate Adult Network”

Strip search of children in England and Wales – analysis by the Children’s Commissioner for England, March 2023

“Rather helpfully, excellent and detailed research has already been conducted by NAAN. The report compellingly illustrates that the UK PACE guidance leaves too much room for discretion …”

Dr Rhian Croke, Children’s Legal Centre Wales - YJLC event Strip searching children – is it ever permissible?, March 2023

"The report is excellent. A major contribution to debate on this difficult topic"

Professor Michael Zander KC, Emeritus Professor, LSE Law School

"This is a timely and needed review. Given the focus on stop and search and in particular strip searching of children, and the case of Child Q, it's important that we review the powers in the different codes. The whole breaking down and the examination of the PACE codes is illuminating and helpful."

Saqib Deshmukh, Interim Chief Executive, Alliance for Youth Justice

“An excellent report, fair and balanced to the difficult position officers are placed when trying to interpret the codes in an operational setting.”

Sergeant Chris Bentley, General Secretary of the West Yorkshire Police Federation & Chair of the National Custody Forum

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Improving the identfcaton of vulnerability

Evidencing the challenge and change

We continued to build on our successful There to Help research series, evidencing the underidentification of vulnerable people in police custody since 2012/13. We use Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain data from police forces on the percentage of adult detentions police record as needing an appropriate adult.

There were over 1,500 downloads of our There to Help reports, summaries and infographics, including 600 downloads of our main reports.

We analysed new data covering April 2019 to December 2021, securing data from 95% of police forces. We found that recorded need for AAs had continued to slowly increase, rising from 6.5% in 2020 to 7.3% in 2021. However, this remains low, with research indicating that around 4 in 10 police detentions of adults involve a person with a diagnosable mental disorder.

Chart: Adult detentions recorded as needing an appropriate adult in England and Wales 2012-2021 (Sources: There to Help 1, 2 and 3; Freedom of Information Act requests)

We also secured the mainstreaming of this type of data, with the Home Office including (a) whether a detained adult was declared vulnerable and (b) whether an appropriate adult was called (where applicable) in its Annual Data Request from forces and publishing it as experimental statstcs.

Communicating the challenge

We made a strategic decision to switch from publishing static reports to a more dynamic approach to communicating the data. Rather than publishing what would have been There to Help 4 , we created a dedicated webpage. We began populating it with charts and infographics, alongside narrative descriptions. The webpage was viewed over 3,000 times.

We secured pro-bono support from digital transformation company UBDS to help us build data visualisations. This will make the data more engaging for local communities, more flexible for police forces and accountability bodies, and therefore more effective in supporting scrutiny and delivering improvements. In 2023/24, we plan to create these visualisations, secure and analyse a further year of data, and raise the profile of the visualisation resource.

We presented the results at a range of events, reaching key audiences including: the Home Office, Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA), College of Policing, Law Society, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) custody lead, and heads of custody from almost all police forces in England and Wales.

We were invited to join the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Mental Health Stakeholder Forum, and we presented to CPS prosecutors on PACE vulnerability and AAs.

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Creating and sharing practical resources

Last year, we successfully piloted our PACE vulnerability training seminar with several small groups of police custody officers, custody healthcare professionals, and NHS Liaison and Diversion staff. NHS England asked us to deliver the refined version to all L&D service leads at a national event (circa 90 attended). We all delivered further sessions for 5 staff from Phoenix Futures (L&D) and 7 staff from Bedfordshire police, Bedfordshire social care, and East London NHS Foundation Trust. L&D is a service operating in every police custody suite in England, and which identifies vulnerable people and provides advice to police. Feedback on the impact of the training continued to be extremely high, and we were keen to find a way to disseminate the information as effectively as possible with our limited resources. We added a page to our website aimed at L&D teams, pulling together our existing resources, including the slide deck from the training, and which attracted over 300 views during the year.

We then partnered with Dr Roxanna Dehaghani (Cardiff University) on an exciting new project to convert our PACE vulnerability training into videos which could be embedded into existing police and healthcare training. We wrote scripts, consulting with people with experience of police custody, the College of Policing, NPCC, and NHS England. We recorded audio and worked with John Brown and Scott Spencer (as on our previous information video for family AAs) to develop illustrated and animated visuals. We produced just over 30 mins of content across three videos, covering the risks to justice, the legal definition, and identifying vulnerability. The videos were designed to be applicable to both police custody and voluntary interviews. A launch was planned for April 2023.

We also wrote an entire section on AAs for the revised CPS legal guidance on suspect mental health and neurodiversity (published in May 2023), which previously did not mention appropriate adults.

Addressing the lack of statutory responsibility for adults

We re-energised our efforts to address the inequality between AA provision for children (for which local authorities have an explicit statutory duty) and vulnerable adults (for which there is no such duty). We invested time in developing our skills for achieving change. We began meeting with key organisations such as Mind, and individuals Emily Spurrell, Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside and national custody lead for the APCC, to discuss how progress can be made. We delivered presentations raising the need for change, reaching a range of organisations, including the Home Office, College of Policing, Law Society, APCC, NPCC and heads of custody.

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Increased confdence in AAs, founded on rigorous evidence.

Supporting and coordinating academic efforts to improve the evidence base

Appropriate adult PhD

We were delighted that Chloe MacDonald was selected by Cardiff University as the candidate for our co-supervised PhD (funded by the ESRC Doctoral Training Programme). Chloe recently stood down as the AA scheme coordinator for NAAN member Young Lives Foundation (Kent and Medway), and has acted as an AA in many cases. She will complete a Masters in Research before proceeding to the PhD – both of which will develop the evidence base on appropriate adults.

Working with other professions

There were 3,159 views of our ‘information for related professions’ web pages, of which 360 were of our new information page for teachers and educational establishments.

We answered 56 requests for information and advice from a range of professional, including police officers and legal representatives.

We partnered with the Intermediary Cooperative, to present to intermediaries (speech, language and communication professionals) on the role of the AA and how intermediaries and AAs might work together in police investigations.

Supporting research

We were an active participant in a range of academic work, including as a steering group member for both the Nuffield Foundation funded study into children in custody led by Dr Vicky Kemp and the British Society of Criminology Vulnerability Research Network (VRN).

Increasing accountability

AA provision in youth justice service inspection

We met with HMI Probation’s Head of Youth Inspection Programme and Head of Standards and Policy regarding HMIP’s post-2024 inspection programme. We secured an agreement that AAs are important, should be included if possible, and would be discussed at stakeholder events.

Complaints

We met with the Met IOPC Director of Strategy and Impact and attended IOPC External Stakeholder Reference Group. Following our advocacy, the group ran a session focused on how children and vulnerable people should and might be supported in the police complaints process, including via independent advocacy.

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Maintaining and strengthening rights

Children’s rights

All Party Parliamentary Group

We supported the development of the new APPG for Children in Police Custody, which met for the first time in December 2022. The group was spearheaded by current Chair Janet Daby MP, with support from NAAN, Alliance for Youth Justice, Child Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), Transform Justice and Just for Kids Law. The APPG launched a Select Committee style inquiry into Achieving the Rights of Children in Police Custody. The secretariat is provided by Dr Miranda Bevan (Goldsmiths). Evidence sessions were planned from April 2023, with a specific session on appropriate adults in the Summer. A written report with recommendations for policy and practice is intended for 2024.

Youth Justice Board guidance

We worked with the YJB to assist with the redrafting of the appropriate adult section of the revised case management guidance on bail and remands. We were able to ensure the accuracy of this critical guidance, including the inclusion of all delivery models, voluntary interviews, proportionate approaches to vetting, and family AA information video produced last year by NAAN and Dr Miranda Bevan.

Quality of advocacy

We took an active role in the YJB-led Quality of Advocacy Working Group, with a focus on understanding and supporting the piloting of opt out legal advice for children in the police station (as developed by the Metropolitan Police). We supported work by the University of London & ICPR, disseminating a survey to our members on how to improve the quality of solicitors advising children in police stations. We disseminated research by University of Exeter on incentivised admissions by children, based in part on interviews with AAs.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

We contributed to the CRAE civil society report to the UNCRC Committee. The final report included mention of appropriate adults in relation to strip searching and minimising detention times.

Remote legal advice

As the Covid pandemic restrictions moved even further into the past, we continued to drive the argument against the continuation of remote legal advice in police stations. Our national position statement set out how it was not in the interests of children and vulnerable suspects – or justice. And in January 2023, the signatories to the Covid-era Joint Interim Interview Protocol (JIIP) agreed version 5, which explicitly excluded the use of remote legal advice for these two groups, even where exceptions ‘allowed’ it for other suspects.

We continued to argue that the emergency measures should be stood down completely, highlighting that the ineffectiveness of the current system of identifying vulnerability, meant that many vulnerable people would still be included.

Intelligence interviews

The issue of ‘intelligence interviews’ emerged from our work with school Designated Safeguarding Leads following the Child Q case. This is questioning, including of children and vulnerable adults, that seemingly occurs outside of the PACE safeguards such as legal advice and appropriate adults. We researched the issue and presented a paper to the PACE Strategy Board with 12 questions. Members of the board agreed that the questions raised were important, that there was insufficient clarity about the legal basis and associated safeguards, and that further consideration was warranted.

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Voluntary interviews

While voluntary interviews offer the potential to reduce the detention of children and vulnerable adults, we continued to raise concerns about the lack of services and safeguards involved.

Identifying vulnerability is a particular issue. In the absence of a custody officer, responsibility lies solely with the investigating officer. We continued to support NHS England Liaison & Diversion (L&D) as it considers how its services can be more widely applied to voluntary interviews. This included presenting at a national voluntary interview conference organised by NHS England.

We were also invited to join an NPCC working group to develop voluntary interview guidance for police forces in England and Wales. This allowed us to raise a range of issues, including identification of vulnerability, access to AAs, and poor examples of communication when inviting people to attend.

Boards and groups

NAAN continued to provide national representation for appropriate adult via a range of operational and policy coordination groups, including:

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Objective 4: Increased Impact

We will make the charity more effective, efficient and sustainable.

Trustee recruitment

The Board conducted open recruitment for a new trustee with policing experience.

We received seven strong expressions of interest, and all applicants were interviewed by a panel of trustees.

We were delighted to appoint Laura Hornby to the board on 13[th] July 2022. Laura is a serving police sergeant with Lancashire Constabulary with 20 years of service. She has experience in many frontline roles including as a custody sergeant but is now working to support custody management focusing on children, young people and vulnerable detainees.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

On 13[th] October, we conducted an externally facilitated staff and board away day to explore issues around equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Notes about what EDI means to us (individually and as NAAN) on a societal, community, and organisational level have fed into initial drafts of rewritten statement and policy.

We plan to complete and publish this policy during the following year.

New website

With the support of 3R's IT Limited and Storm, we were able to redevelop our existing website, with a modern design. The new ‘responsive’ template means the content is much more accessible for mobile user. Redevelopment allowed us to achieve our objectives at much lower cost (in time and money) and less user disruption than building a new website. During the year we were able to test and launch the website. The new site has received positive feedback from users, and led to an increase in our views and downloads.

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Financial Review

Financial performance

The Statement of Financial Activities is shown on page 21.

The surplus for the year was £20,190 (2022: £ 50,418). The net assets amounted to £215,320 (2022: £195,131).

Reserves policy

NAAN’s policy is to maintain sufficient level of designated reserves to enable normal operating activities to continue over a period of 6 to 9 months. This policy is a medium-term measure to mitigate the risks of the charity’s historical current reliance on a single grant funder that makes decisions on an annual basis, as well as risks associated with past difficulties in obtaining physical receipt of grant funding in a timely fashion.

Thus, for the sake of transparency guidelines from the ‘CC19: Charity Reserves –Building Resilience' have been adopted and a reserve of £110,000 designated. This equates to 6.9 months of expenditure at 2022-23 levels.

This reserve would allow NAAN the opportunity to secure alternative funding or, if necessary, to wind down its programme of support. The charity has a plan in place to diversify funding and increase staffing and will continue to review appropriate reserves levels annually to ensure funds are used effectively to support the charitable objectives.

General funds

The general fund enables the charity to respond quickly to opportunities and to support its longterm development. The board has decided to reduce the size of this fund. A rolling 3-year budget is in place, setting out how the general fund will be reduced responsibly and effectively, with a focus on the development of a national e- learning platform (see below).

Designated funds

The board re-designated £45,000 from the general fund to develop a national e-learning course to support local appropriate adult scheme leaders with the initial training of AAs. While expenditure was initially planned for 2022-23, this was delayed due to challenges identifying an appropriate development partner. The investment will now be made in 2023-24 and will enable the charity to work with an agency to ensure the creation of high-quality, interactive content for learners.

A major grant of £35,000 was received from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation in January 2022, part of a three-year grant totalling £105,000. This grant directly enabled us to create the new role of Operations Manager, and free up the Chief Executive to focus on our Fairer System objective. While the first year was unrestricted (as part of the Foundation’s Covid-19 response) these funds were spent during the year, and incoming funds of £35,000 during 2022-23 were placed in a restricted fund.

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Funding sources

Our deep and sincere thanks to the following for their support this year:

In pursuit of our strategy, we continue to work to increase and diversify the charity’s funding. This includes:

Investment policy and performance

The Board has decided that at present, funds should continue to be retained in Banks and Building Societies. Any change in such banking arrangements should be agreed by the Board. As far as possible, funds will be retained in interest bearing accounts. Income from interest amounted to 0.6% of income.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 19th October 2023 and signed on its behalf by:

............................................. Kevin Wheeler Treasurer

This approach will increase the charity’s

sustainability and independence by reducing reliance on the Home Office.

Processes have been put in place to clearly delineate between the work undertaken under the Home Office grant and other projects and activities. For example, any work undertaken to engage with Parliamentarians is conducted outside of that grant, in line with its terms.

The breakdown of funding in 2023 was:

Fundraising

The Charity did not engage external support for fundraising during the year. No complaints have been received in respect of the Charity's fundraising activities during the financial year.

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of The National Appropriate Adult Network Limited ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

  1. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

  2. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

  3. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  4. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

  5. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Rosanna Turner ACA DChA Calcutt Matthews WBZ Ltd 19 North Street Ashford Kent TN24 8LF

19 October 2023 Date: .............................................

20

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

31.3.23 31.3.23 31.3.22
Unrestricted


Restricted


Total


Total
Notes £ £ £ £
INCOME FROM
Donations & legacies
2		 3,041 155,000 158,041 151,051
Charitable activities
3		 53,132 - 53,132 50,692
Investments
4		 1,176 - 1,176 439
Total income 57,349 155,000 212,349 202,181


EXPENDITURE ON
Charitable activities
5,6,7
Member Support 19,217 43,234 62,451 50,474
Policy & Standards 21,962 55,587 77,549 63,384
Professional Development 27,453 24,705 52,158 37,906
Total expenditure 68,633 123,526 192,159 151,764
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) -11,284 31,474 20,190 50,418
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward 193,131 2,000 195,131 144,713
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED
FORWARD 181,847 33,474 215,320 195,131

.

21

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

BALANCE SHEET at 31 March 2023

Restricted 31.3.23
Total		 31.3.22
Total
Notes
8		 funds
2,442		 funds
-		 funds
£
2,442		 funds
£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 3,622
9 35,734
162,551		 -
33,474
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 38,992
Cash at bank 182,546
Total current assets 198,285 33,474 231,758 221,538
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one
year		 10 (18,880) - (18,880) (30,029)
179,404 33,474 212,878
NET CURRENT ASSETS 191,509
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES 181,847 33,474 215,320 195,131
NET ASSETS 181,847 33,474 215,320 195,131
11 71,846
-
110,000		 -
-
-		 71,846
-
110,000
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds
General funds 56,880
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation 26,250
Reserves 110,000
Total unrestricted funds 181,846
-
-
-		 -
-
32,474
1,000		 181,846
-
32,474
1,000		 193,131
Restricted funds
Home Office -
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation -
Allen Lane Foundation 2,000
Total restricted funds - 33,474 33,474 2,000
TOTAL FUNDS 181,846 33,474 215,320 195,131

22

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the Year Ended 31 March 2023. The members have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for:

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small charitable companies.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 19[th] October 2023 and were signed on its behalf by:

............................................. Kevin Wheeler Treasurer

23

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015)', and the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

Expenditure

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Support costs are those incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management carried out at Headquarters. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirement.

Going concern

The trustees and management have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern for at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements

They have concluded that, together with the reserves, there is a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, and therefore, the charity continues to adopt the going concern basis.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings - 25% on reducing balance Computer equipment - 25% - 50% on cost

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for restricted purposes. Designated funds are only used for a specific reason at the discretion of the trustees and reviewed annually. Further explanation of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

24

Debtors

Debtors are amounts owed to the charity. They are measured on the basis of their recoverable amount.

Creditors

Creditors are amounts owed by the charity. They are measured at the amount that the charity expects to have to pay to settle the debt.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme, with an employer contribution of 8% of gross salary. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. Contributions payable to the pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate. A salary sacrifice scheme is in operation, allowing staff to reduce their salary in exchange for increased employer pension contributions, with a net zero effect on the charity. Contributions payable by the charity amounted to £18,413 (2021: £20,175).

25

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES Unrestricted
£		 Restricted
£
31.3.23 31.3.22
Total Total
£ £
Home Office Police Powers Unit - 110,000 110,000 110,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - 42,000 42,000 35,000
Allen Lane Foundation - 3,000 3,000 6,000
Department for Education 3,000 - 3,000 -
Donations 41 - 41 51
3,041 155,000 158,041 151,051
Unrestricted
£		 Restricted
£
3. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
31.3.23 31.3.22
Total Total
£ £
Income from
Training and training material 26,302 - 26,302 25,633
Membership subscriptions 21,167 - 21,167 21,800
Commissioning support 4,087 - 4,087 1,539
Qualification 1,530 - 1,530 1,720
Other income 46 - 46 -
53,132 - 53,132 50,692
Unrestricted Restricted
4. INVESTMENT INCOME
31.3.23 31.3.22
Total Total
£ £
Deposit account interest 1,176 0 1,176 439

5. NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING) RESOURCES

Net resources are stated after charging/(crediting):

31.3.2023 31.3.2022
£ £
Independent examiner’s fee 919 1,760
Depreciation - owned assets 1,590 1,004

26

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

6. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There was no trustee remuneration or other benefits provided for the year ended 31 March 2023 nor for the year ended 31 March 2022. No Trustee had any beneficial interest in any contract with the charity.

Trustees’ expenses

Trustees’ expenses
31.3.2023 31.3.2022
£ £
Trustees’ expenses 255 480

7. STAFF

The average number of full time equivalent employees during the year was as follows:

Staff
The cost of employing those staff were:
Salaries and wages
National insurance
Pensions		 31.3.2023
£
3
31.3.2023
£
137,875
11,089
18,413
167,377		 31.3.2022
£
2.25
31.3.2022
£
103,820
7,581
20,175
131,576

No employees received emoluments (employee benefits excluding employer pension contributions) in excess of £60,000 (2022: None).

The total remuneration (including gross salary, pension and employer’s national insurance before reductions due to employer’s allowance) of key management personnel during the year was £75,925 (2022: £75,514) of which £11,943 was employer’s pension contributions (2022: 16,113).

27

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Fixtures and
fittings
£
COST
At 1 April 2022
521
Additions
180
Disposals
-
At 31 March 2023
701
DEPRECIATION
At 1 April 2022
521
Charge for year
41
At 31 March 2023
562
NET BOOK VALUE
At 31 March 2023
139
At 31 March 2022
-
9. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade debtors
Prepayments
10. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade creditors
Other creditors
Deferred income
Credit card
Accrued expenses		 Office
equipment
£
8,678
230
-
8,908
5,056
1,548
6,604
2,304
3,622
31.3.2023
£
34,882
851
35,734
31.3.2023
£
2,103
4,000
11,623
154
1,000
18,880		 Totals
£
9,199
410
-
9,609
5,577
1,589
7,167
2,442
3,622
31.3.2022
£
38,234
758
38,992
31.3.2022
£
646
-
24,695
114
4,574
30,029

28

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
At 1.4.2022
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
56,880
E-learning fund
0
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
26,250
Reserves
110,000
Restricted funds
Home Office
-
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
-
Allen Lane Foundation
2,000
TOTAL FUNDS
195,131
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
Resources
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
12,349
E-learning fund
45,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
-
Reserves
-
Restricted funds
Home Office
110,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
42,000
Allen Lane Foundation
3,000
TOTAL FUNDS
212,349		 Net
movement
in funds
£
(30,034)
45,000
(26,250)
-
-
-
32,474
(1,000)
20,190
Resources
Expended
£
42,383
0
26,250
-
110,000
9,526
4,000		 At 31.3.2023
£
26,846
45,000
-
110,000
-
-
32,474
1,000
215,320
Movement
in funds
£
(30,034)
45,000
(26,250)
-
-
32,474
(1,000)
192,159 20,190

.

29

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS (CONTINUED)

The purposes of the funds are as follows:

Restricted

Home Office

To support and represent organisations providing appropriate adult services to children and vulnerable adults in police custody and voluntary interviews.

Allen Lane

For development and delivery of our appropriate adult training offer, with a focus on developing an e-learning platform. The fund supports staff time and technical costs.

Esmée Fairbairn

To build a just and inclusive criminal justice system that prevents miscarriages of justice, by transforming safeguards for vulnerable people detained or questioned by police (those most at risk of having their rights denied). While year one of a three-year grant agreement was unrestricted as part of the Foundation’s Covid-19 response, this year was restricted.

Designated

General fund: To enable the charity to respond quickly to opportunities and to support its long-term development. The board has decided to reduce the size of this fund (see below).

E-learning fund: To develop a national e-learning course to support local appropriate adult scheme leaders with the initial training of AAs.

Reserves

NAAN’s policy is to maintain sufficient level of designated reserves to enable normal operating activities to continue over a period of between 6 and 9 months. This policy is a medium-term measure to mitigate the risks of the charity’s historical current reliance on a single grant funder that makes decisions on an annual basis, as well as risks associated with past difficulties in obtaining physical receipt of grant funding in a timely fashion. Thus, for the sake of transparency guidelines from the ‘CC19: Charity Reserves –Building Resilience' have been adopted and a reserve of £110,000 designated. This equates to 6.9 months of expenditure at 2022-23 levels (2022: 8.7 months). This would allow NAAN the opportunity to secure alternative funding or, if necessary, to wind down its programme of support. The charity has a plan in place to diversify funding and increase staffing and will continue to review appropriate reserves levels annually to ensure funds are used effectively to support the charitable objectives.

30

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

11. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS (CONTINUED)

Comparatives for movement in funds

At 1.4.2021
Net movement
in funds
£
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
40,546
16,334
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
-
26,250
Garfield Weston Foundation
9,167
(9,167)
Reserves
95,000
15,000
Restricted funds
Home Office
-
-
Allen Lane Foundation
-
2,000
TOTAL FUNDS
144,713
50,418
Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
Resources
Resources
Expended
£
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
36,181
(19,847)
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
35,000
(8,750)
Garfield Weston Foundation
-
(9,167)
Reserves
15,000
-
Restricted funds
Home Office
110,000
(110,000)
Allen Lane Foundation
6,000
(4,000)
202,181
(151,764)
TOTAL FUNDS		 At 31.3.2022
£
56,880
26,250
-
110,000
-
2,000
195,131
Movement in
funds
£
16,334
26,250
(9,167)
15,000
-
2,000
50,418

12. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the Year Ended 31 March 2023.

31

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
Donations and legacies
Donations
Grants
Charitable activities
Membership subscriptions
Training and training material
Commissioning support
Qualification
Other income
Investment income
Deposit account interest
Total incoming resources		 31.3.2023
£
41
158,000
158,041.33
21,167
26,302
4,087
1,530
46
53,132
1,176
212,349		 31.3.2022
£
51
151,000
151,051
21,800
25,633
1,539
1,720
-
50,692
439
202,181

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements.

32

THE NATIONAL APPROPRIATE ADULT NETWORK LTD

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

EXPENDITURE
Charitable activities
Wages
Social security
Pensions
Travel and subsistence
Training, Events and Groups
Staff training
Support costs
Management
Administration
Fixtures and fittings
Computer equipment
Fundraising
Independent review of user involvement
Premises
Printing and stationery
Professional Fees
Recruitment
Travel and subsistence
Sundries
Finance
Bank charges
Information technology
Communications and IT
Governance costs
Trustees’ expenses
Professional fees
Independent examiners’ remuneration
Accountancy and legal fees
Total resources expended
Net income/(expenditure)		 31.3.2023
£
137,875
11,089
18,413
1,135
8,955
534
178,002
526
41
1,548
-
-
3,373
83
360
-
-
741
6,673
161
5,983
422
-
919
1,341
192,159
20,190		 31.3.2022
£
103,820
7,581
20,175
145
1,775
1,020
134,516
7,795
-
1,004
-
-
2,219
128
537
486
-
586
12,755
154
2,098
480
-
1,760
-
2,240
151,764
50,418

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements.

33